Albert Saijo

Title

Albert Saijo

Creator

Frederick William McDarrah, 5 Nov 1926 - 6 Nov 2007
Albert Saijo, 4 Feb 1926 - 2 June 2011

Date

10-Dec-59

Description

Born Los Angeles, California
The poet Albert Saijo was one of only two Asian American writers associated with the Beat movement. Of Japanese American descent, Saijo and his family were incarcerated during World War II at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center. While there, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in Italy with the famous “Nisei” battalion. Afterward, Saijo worked on collaborative and performative projects with fellow writers in northern California’s loosely knit Beat community.
In 1959, Saijo joined the writers Jack Kerouac and Lew Welch on an impromptu, cross-country road trip from San Francisco to New York City. The freewheeling trio careened across the country by jeep before reaching Greenwich Village. They made the rounds of that bohemian enclave, visiting Allen Ginsberg and hanging out at the Cedar Bar. The Village Voice photojournalist Fred W. McDarrah included this image from the famous trip in his 1960 book, The Beat Scene.
Nacido en Los Ángeles, California
El poeta Albert Saijo fue uno de solo dos escritores asiáticos-americanos asociados con el movimiento beat. De ascendencia japonesa-americana, Saijo y su familia fueron internados durante la II Guerra Mundial en el Centro de Reubicación de Heart Mountain. Estando allí se alistó en el ejército de EE.UU. y sirvió en Italia con el famoso batallón “nisei”. Más tarde trabajó en proyectos colaborativos y performances con compañeros escritores en la comunidad beat del norte de California.
En 1959, Saijo se unió a los escritores Jack Kerouac y Lew Welch en un viaje improvisado por carretera desde San Francisco hasta Nueva York. El despreocupado trío cruzó el país en jeep hasta llegar a Greenwich Village. En ese enclave bohemio hicieron la ronda usual, visitando a Allen Ginsberg y luego el Cedar Bar. El fotoperiodista del Village Voice Fred W. McDarrah incluyó esta imagen del famoso viaje en su libro de 1960, The Beat Scene.

Subject

Literature
Writers
Interior decoration
Dress accessories
Portraits
Home Furnishings
Couch
Eyeglasses
Furnishings
Printed Material
Design
Drinking vessel
Belt
Costume
Seating
Men
Poets
Saijo, Albert
McDarrah, Frederick William
Interior
Furniture
Dress Accessory
Document
Glass
Albert Saijo
Male
Writer
Poet
Portrait

Source

Smithsonian Institution

Relation

https://ids.si.edu/ids/deliveryService?id=NPG-NPG_2015_124

Type

image

References

http://collections.si.edu/search/results.htm?q=record_ID=npg_NPG.2015.124&repo=DPLA

Citation

Frederick William McDarrah, 5 Nov 1926 - 6 Nov 2007 and Albert Saijo, 4 Feb 1926 - 2 June 2011, “Albert Saijo,” Center for Knit and Crochet Digital Repository, accessed August 16, 2026, https://digital.centerforknitandcrochet.org/items/show/37683.

Comments